Post Adoption Conference
- Dr. Karyn Purvis
From Understanding to Hope –
The Journey Through Life With Your Adopted Child
Dr. Karyn Purvis, Ph.D.
Director: TCU Institute of Child Development
Texas Christian University
www.child.tcu.edu
From Understanding to Hope – The Journey Through Life With Your Adopted Child
Among our greatest hopes for our children is that they will be joyful, loving members of our families, and that they will have lives filled with contentment and meaningful relationships. For many parents this hope seems beyond reach. From Understanding to Hope – The Journey Through Life With Your Adopted Child is designed to empower parents in their journey with their children.
The Dr Purvis event was excellent. It was a tremendous resource for parents, teachers, and other professionals. Through out the day long seminar Dr Purvis demonstrated how to build bonds of affection & trust with your child, effectively deal with learning or behavioral disorders, and to discipline your child with love without making him or her feel threatened. The seminar was attended by approximately 100 people, many who wished they had brought other people with them. It truly was a seminar for everyone, all parents, and people who at times need to discipline children, teachers; public, private, Sunday school, day care workers, youth leaders, social workers, family counselors, the list is endless.
Dr Karyn Purvis's books, "The Connected Child" is available for $15 each. It is a must read book not only for adoptive parents but for all families striving to correct and connect with their children. This book would make an excellent Christmas gift for someone in your family.
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About the Speaker:
Dr. Karyn Purvis is the Director of the Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas. During the past decade, she and her colleagues at the Institute have invested their efforts towards developing research-based interventions for at-risk children. Throughout her life, Karyn’s personal and professional calling has been to create a welcoming, loving environment for children who come from "hard places". Foster and adoption issues have always been at the heart of her work, and when her own children were small, she served as foster mother to many children. She serves as expert witness in court cases of child abuse, testifies for state and national legislation, and speaks frequently to national and international groups. Recent trips have taken her to varied national groups from trainings for judges and CPS workers, to training international parents and professionals in England, Iceland, Scotland and Romania.
Dr. Purvis received her undergraduate degree at TCU and continued on to receive her masters and doctorate in Developmental Psychology from TCU as well. During her time at TCU Dr. Purvis developed and directed (1999 – present) the Hope Connection, a research and intervention summer day camp for adopted children. She continued her work with this population as the director of the Adoption Project from 2003 -2006. Work from these projects has been featured in NBC Dateline, Fort Worth Weekly, Newsweek, Parents Magazine, and other popular parent magazines. She and her colleague, Dr. David Cross write for scientific journals, parents magazines, and have co-authored a feature book for McGraw-Hill titled, The Connected Child: Bringing Hope and Healing to your Adoptive Family, which was released Spring 2007. Within six months of publication, The Connected Child has earned rank as a best-seller in adoption books. She and her colleague, Dr. David Cross were recently honored with the Dallas business journal Heroes of Healthcare Award. In January 2008, Dr. Purvis was awarded the T. Berry Brazelton, M.D. Infant Mental Health Advocacy Award, a state-wide award for child advocacy and was recently awarded the title of Distinguished Fellow in Adoption and Child Development by the National Council for Adoption.
The Connected Child
Children who experience abuse, neglect, or trauma disconnect in profound ways. They disconnect from themselves – their feelings, needs, and wants. They disconnect from others – their feelings, needs, and wants. These disconnected children are at risk for aberrant behaviors, for dissociative disorders, and for the ultimate disconnects of mental illness and suicide. The Connected Child is a synthesis of research findings from a decade of developing interventions for at-risk children and will discuss how to help wounded children re-connect in ways that bring hope and healing to them and their families.
The Attachment Dance
Deep meaningful connections between children and their parents are the most powerful tools for bringing hope and healing. This session is designed to help parents develop insight into the attachment dance between them and their children, and to provide practical tools for helping deepen their attachment relationships.
Sensory Integration and the Behavior Connection
Research from the TCU Developmental Research Lab has documented a significant correlation between sensory processing disorders with behavioral and attachment problems. This session is designed to provide information about how sensory issues can be addressed and about how to facilitate behavioral change by understanding and recognizing sensory processing issues.
Putting It All Together: Tools to Take Home
This session was a culmination of the insights garnered throughout the day, and is designed to help parents bring behavioral change and healing to their children. Based on research-based Interactive Principles, Dr. Purvis will discuss and illustrate three tool sets with specific examples of how to Empower, Connect, and Correct.